As The Snow Falls
by Ballad of the Fool
Summary: Oh, how Even hated this time of year. He hated the cold, the snow, wintertime. He just hated it. But to make things a little better, Raine is back to visit. Merry Christmas, my friend! :D


Well, this is a very late Christmas present that was supposed to be written for last year's Christmas, but I decided to actually finish rewriting it in time for this Christmas because I had felt bad that I had never finished it for my dear friend _Heart of Friendship_. This was written for her OC, Raine, and her love interest, Vexen, or otherwise known as Even before the fall of Radiant Garden. Merry Christmas, my dear. It didn't come as well as I hope it would, but it is still pretty good. So I hope you all like it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing! Vexen belongs to Square Enix. Raine belongs to Heart of Friendship.

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"**Even! It's snowing!**"

Blast it. It must be that time of year again. Oh, how he hated the snow. It was too cold for the blonde scientist. He would have to force himself to wear more and more layers of clothing, which may have kept him warm outside, but utterly sweating indoors. The tip of his nose would always freeze and it would be impossible for him to warm up anymore for the next few hours.

No amount of coffee or hot chocolate or a good glass of whiskey could help his frail body warm after a simple walk down the street to the local market place.

Now that Raine was gone for the season, all he wanted to do was stay indoors.

He couldn't stand the snow. Even hated the cold.

Even hated winter.

"Silence!" Even exclaimed, not moving his eyes at all from his current experiment. This would require all of his damn attent--BANG. "BRAIG!"

The sound of a quickened jog became clear as Even dropped his now destroyed experiment from his hands. His expression cleared angered by his 'friend's' action. "Another blasted theory! Blown out of the damn window! Braig! How could you?!" He stormed towards the door of the laboratory and rapidly searched the area with his eyes.

A faint "I'm sorry!" could be heard further down the hallway. Even growled;

"Stay away from my lab!" He shouted.

"Even, calm down please." A young teenager walked around the corner with a book in his hands and a pair of glasses on the bridge of his nose.

Even groaned, "Ienzo. Do not tell me what I should do."

"Master Ansem wants you to run to the market place and pick up a few things." Ienzo ignored the blonde, perking his eyes up from the book only for a mere moment just to hand the scientist a small piece of paper.

"I'm in the middle of something. Get Braig to do--." Ienzo cut him off,

"He did it last week with Dilan. It's your turn this week."

Even quickly glanced over the list and sighed, "Fine. But if I freeze to death, it'll be on your name." Ienzo shook his head and went back to read his large book, continuing to walk down the hallway. Even sighed as he walked from his lab and down the hallway.

"Why must I be the one to run this silly errand? Braig wouldn't mind, I'm sure." Even rolled his eyes, managing a quick glimpse outside of the frosting windows, he groaned. "I do need a little fresh air, I suppose." He muttered under his breath as he grasped the door knob to his room. Reaching behind his door, he felt around with his hand for a heavy enough jacket.

But of course, knowing Even and his complete hatred to the cold, he put on at least three jackets and possibly an extra sweater. He just wanted to get this over with so the green eyed blonde could get back to his experiment in the lab.

Taking the quickest route possible, Even wanted to get the necessary items as fast as he could. He could see his own breath, which for a moment actually fascinated him, until he realized the logical reasons behind the whole ordeal. He was getting annoyed, '_Why is it so impossible to find a simple fruit!?' _He thought furiously, bunching up his brows together. But there; right there, was the last of the fruit's the castle, apparently, needed. As he put his gloved hand upon the fruit, someone else put their hand upon it as well.

"Excuse me." He began, as their eyes met. He gasped almost loud enough for them both to hear. It was a familiar woman; his heart almost stopped dead in its place.

"Even?" She questioned. Her tone was soft.

"Raine, long time no see." He smiled, she returned a smile as she quickly hugged him. Letting out a soft giggle in the process;

"Isn't it? I was able to come and visit. Aren't you happy to see me?" She questioned with a weak smile as she pulled away from the hug. Even merely chuckled,

"Of course! I'm happy to see you here." He replied.

"Oi!" The owner of the little stand called out to Even, "Are you going to purchase that or no?"

Even let out a soft gasp and released the fruit, "No, sorry." He glanced back over to Raine, "You wanna' take a walk?" He asked; his tone was a little soft as he stuck his almost freezing-even-within-the-gloved hands into his pockets. He almost felt relieved as she let out a soft giggle and nodded with a soft grin upon her lips. He smiled as motioned with his head to move away. She, of course, followed along side of him.

"Even, can we go to the park? I've heard plenty from Ienzo that it looks beautiful when it snows." She asked, Even merely chuckled.

"I was actually planning on going there." He told her, she smiled. "So how have you been?"

"I've been okay. It was nice to get out for a little bit but… I really started to miss you guys. Did you all miss me?" She asked curiously.

"Of course we missed you!" He replied, a grin upon his face. "I really missed you too." He added in. She smiled and laughed.

"Aw, thank you, Even. Anything big happen yet?" She questioned, "Did Braig get caught for sneaking out yet?"

"Braig is sneaking out?"

"Oh! You didn't know? I'm so sorry. Don't tell anyone I said that then, please?"

Even, a little hesitant, merely nodded and she smiled,

"Thank you."

"Oh, it's no problem. But to answer you question; no. Nothing all that amazing has happened yet. Aside form you returning, of course." He spoke, "And of course this wretched snow." He added in a soft murmur under his breath.

"Oh, I love this weather." Raine smiled, "It's so refreshing."

"I'm not a fan." Even bluntly answered. Raine furrowed her brows together,

"But why?" She asked curiously.

"It's too cold. I'm always freezing. They forget to turn some partial heat on in both my room and in my laboratory. And the snow never melts away. Of course, it has it's beauty for the first day or two but it turns gross-looking and I can't stand to even look at it anymore." Even quickly listed.

Raine merely shook her head in response, "But winter is such a lovely season, either way." She spoke and glanced over to him, scanning his face. She let out a soft giggle, he gave her a puzzled look;

"What are you laughing at?"

"Your nose. It's so red. You look like Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer."

Even quickly turned away and blushed rather profusely.

"I think it's cute. Really." She added. This made Even blush even more now.

"…T-thank you." He stuttered softly. They walked for a moment in silence up a hill covered in a thick layer of snow. As they reached the top of the hill, Raine kneeled down towards the ground and formed a small snowball within her palms, "Raine, if you dare--." He began, but was cut off by a snowball colliding with his face. "That's it!" He began to gather up snow within his hands and threw quite a few snowballs at the female but was beaten quickly when Raine hit a tree branch right above Even, causing the excess snow to fall down upon him.

"Hey!" He called out, trying to brush off the snow from him, "That wasn't fair." Raine merely smiled and giggled.

"I thought you needed to… Cool down a little bit." She laughed. He shook his head. "So you really don't like the winter?" She questioned.

"Not so much." He merely answered. A weak smile came upon her lips as she quickly placed a warm peck upon the tip of his nose, becoming beat red yet again.

"Warm up your heart, _Mr. Frost_." She giggled and ran down the hill. He stood there speechless for a moment unless he decided to run after her.

"I guess the snow isn't _that_ bad."


End file.
